by Jeff Backhaus

Here’s the description from the Required Reading section of The NY Post:

“This debut novel from Backhaus takes place in New York City, but aside from some references to a bus line here or a bodega there, it could almost be anywhere. That’s because Thomas Tessler has basically locked himself in his room for the past three years (a phenomenon in Japan called hikikomori) after his son’s death. His desperate wife, who shares the apartment but never sees him, hires a ‘rental sister’ (another import from Japan) to try to snap him out of it. When they become intimate, his wife needs to decide if it’s all worth it.”

BookRiot put this “gorgeous first novel” on its Five Books to Watch for in January list.

And theSt. Louis Post-Dispatchsays: “[Hikikomori and the Rental Sister] is written deeply, cleanly, sparely and gently, like fingers playing over the strings of a harp. Jeff Backhaus has apparently worked at many jobs, but it seems that he has now found his vocation.”

Now’s your chance to get a free copy…

Enter to win a free copy of HIKIKOMORI AND THE RENTAL SISTER

Please fill out this form for a chance to receive a copy of Hikikomori and the Rental Sister. The winner's name will be chosen at random. You may only enter once before TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2013.

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3 Comments On This Post:

January 7, 20133:30 pm

techeditor says...

I entered under my real name. Should I have used techeditor, instead?

January 7, 20134:45 pm

Judith Bryant says...

This sounds like a good way to make it until April.

January 7, 20135:53 pm

April says...

I saw this book at my local bookstore a couple of days before Christmas and read some of it. It was so enthralling, I placed the title to my wish list, but when my son and his father went back to purchase it later, it was gone. Best of luck to Jeff Backhaus and Algonquin for a smashing success!